Panel clamp



1,639,083 1927' J. c. DE PENNING PANEL CLAMP Filed Nov. 4 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR John C De Penmng ORNEY/ J. C. DE PENNING PANEL CLAMP Filed Nov. 4 1926 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR John C De ezming BY %f% TORNY 1,639,083 J. -c. PENNING P A N E L C L A MP Filed Nov. 4 1926 3 Shegts-Sheet 3 fnyemor John CDe Pen zz'nq ATORNEY- Patented Aug. 16, 1927.

UNITED STA TES: PATENT- OFFICE.

JOHN C. DE PENN'ING, 0F PORTLAND, OREGON, ASSIGNOR TO CENTRAL .DOOB AND LUMBER COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, OREGON, CORPORATION.

PANEL CLAMP.

Application filed November 4, 1926. Serial No. 146,147.

My invention relates to clamps, vises and the like and the principal object of my invention is to provide a convenient and eflicient, device in which door panels canbe assembled and the strips making up such panels positioned and, forced into engagement with each other, in a ,quick and easy manner.

The door, panels forwhich my invention is particularly adapted are composed of strips of ceiling or' similar material having tongue-and-grooved edges. Suchstrips must be, subjected to lateral pressure to force said edges into, engagement with the strips ateach side and inasmuch as the panels must-be afde'finite overall width the strips must be selected to give the panel such width. A further object of my invention is to provide a', device .of this, character in which such stripswill', be correctly positioned relatively to each other and' be forced; into engagement with the adjacent strips, which device will indicate quickly whether said built-up. panel is the correctwidth, or not, and if not,.suc'h, clamping device is arranged to vbe quickly loosened and a proper strip or strips inserted to make such panel the proper widt c Y Panels of'this character are not held together suificiently by, the-engagement" of the tongue-and-grooved edge", portions to be handled, and'thus tying and: stiffening members must be provided for this purpose, I

A further. objectofmy invent-ionthere fore, is to provide a. device for positioning suchvla tter. members on. the; panel, and permitting them to be fa'stened thereto when-the latter is under pressure and the tongue-and grooved. edges, are in ,firm engagement. Devices must also; be provided for prevent -ing. suchpanels from buckling under the lateral pressure, and such. devices must be arranged so as not to interfere! with the location and fastening, of such stiffening members;

I attain these objectsin a clampfor press comprising a frame having a top portion constituting acan be-assembleda Surrounding such bed i are pairs of spacedggripping members fastened to the frame; and.definingv a mout h which; may be contracted to-the exact size of the pane1 to .-be built;v One of the gripping; members at: the side of thepan'eland completed panel.-

bed upon. which such panels on the frame, and the free ends of such members are provided with cooperatinglugs are arranged on the faces of the gripping members tooverlie' such strips and prevent them from buckling upwardly from the bed. Pairs of such lugs are arranged at the corners of such month and extendinto the latter such a distance that they engage and position the; stiffeningv members relatively on the panel strips so that *the whole assembly cani'be fastened byfis'crews or similar. fastening means; That is, the corner lugs perform a double duty, namely, to hold the panel against buckling and also to position and hold such stiffening members.

The details of construction and the mode ofoperation of myfimproved panel clamp are hereinafter described in greater detail. and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which; 7 I f i n Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the clamp with the twopivoted clamping members swung open;

Fig. 2 1s a similar View with'panel strips Fig. 3' is a perspective view of such clamp w1th the members engaged andgripping a My, improved' panel clamp comprises a table-like frame a; having four legs a at itsv corners, ,anda top constituting vabed b for the panels vto ,be assembled upon. Such'top is made. up of four boundingfangles a and spaced central. transverse members a A sufficient numberof such transverse members (i are provided to adequately support a number ofpanel stripscplacedthereon. A solid top w'ouldsuifice but would add to the Weightof the clamp to render it less portable; At each end of the topan'extra wide transverse member or a number of trans- ;verseHmembe'rs anearranged side by side to 7 provide arrunlnbkenlv surface. for holding the ends of the panel strips.

Thev extra width arranged side. by side in themouth of such .clamp; and 7 of the members at these points permits a v wide range of.,p gls to be accommodated.

A pair: of. clam ingimembersa andv a are Y one endther'eof areipivotallymaimed i' a ends. eitheand, a

ii (I other pair f and g are arranged at the sides thereof. One of said end clamping members (Z is secur d to the bed of the frame by bolts h which pass thru holes i of substantially larger diameter to permit such clamping member d to be adjusted over the bed f the frame and fastened in adjusted. position. The side clamping member 7 is similarly fastened by bolts it which pass thru similar holes i.

The remaining clamping members 6 and g are pivotally mounted to the bed of the frame, the member 6 being mounted upon a pin and the member 9 upon a pin j, both members being thus free at one end which may be swung outwardly from the mouth k to receive the panel strips, the mouth being that portion of the bed bounded by the clamping members 6, f, g, and h. 1

A. pin 1 extends upwardly from the bet, as is shown in Fig. 1, to limit the movement inwardl of the clam in member 6 the pivoted member 9 needing no such stop because its forked end 9 18 arranged to abut against the end 6 of the member a. A screw ,m is carried by such latter end 6' and a hand wheel n, threaded thereon, has a shoulder n which engages the outer face'of the forked end g and draws such endinwardly to close the mouth is, the end 6 serving to limit the movement inwardly of the end 9, as has been noted heretofore.

The free ende of the member 6 is forced inwardly by a bell-crank lever 0 pivotally mounted on a pin p, extending laterally from theframe a. Such lever is, arrangedto engage a wedge-shaped bracket g, on such 'member 6, and as it rides up such bracket it forces the free end e towards the stopping pin 1. I a

Upon the inner faces of the members (Z, 6, f, and g, are a number of lugs 1 which are spaced above the bed of the clamp a distance slightly in excess of the thickness of the panel. Such lugs thus serve to hold the panel tothe bed of the clamp and prevent it from buckling. Thelugs in the corners of the mouth serve a dualpurpose in that they extend'inwardly .from the clamping members a predetermined distance. Diagona'i tying and stiffening. members 0 are fastened to the panel strips and such corner lugs serve to position such stiffening members on the panel and to hold them so that they cannot shift when they are being fastened in place. Such corner lugs are arranged relatively to the faces of the clamping members so that they will engage the stiffening members firmly only after the panel strips have been compressed to the desired degree." 7

I claim: 1. A device of the character described comprising a frame having a top portion.

members carried by such fraineand mounted at'opposite sides of said bed and bounding the latter to define a mouth thereon, one member of each pair of gripping members being pivotally mountedat one end to the frame for relative movement over said bed. and means for drawing such free ends of such gripping members together and gripping an article held in such mouth.

2.' A device of the, character described comprising a frame having a top portion constituting a bed, pairs of spaced gripping members carried by such frame and mounted at opposite sides of saidbed and bounding the latter to define a mouth thereon, one

member of each pair of gripping members being pivotally mounted at one end to the frame for relative movement over said bed,

and cooperating pressure applying devices carried by the free ends of such p1V0t9-Cl' members for drawing such freeends of such gripping members together and gripping an article held in such mouth. 7

3. A device of the character described comprising a frame having .a top portion constitutin a bed, pairs ofspaced gripping members carried by such frame and mounted at oppositev sides of said'bed and bounding the latter to define a mouth thereon,.one

member of each pair of gripping 'members being pivotaliy mountedat one end to the frame for relatlve movement over StlCl bed,

the free end of one of saidpivoted'members being provided with athreaded screw element, the free end of the other being provided with a forked end adapted toengage being pivotallynnounted at one end to the a frame for reiative'movement over said bed,

the free end of one" of said pivoted 'mem-' bers and the frame 'being'provided with cooperating pressure applying devices adapted to move suchfree end'ove-r such bed.

5. A device of the 7' character described comprising a frame having a topportion constitutinga bed, pairs of spaced gripping atopposite "sides of saidfbed andfbounding the latter to define mouth thereon,- one member OfQZlChIPtl-II of grlpp ngmembers being pivo-tally"mountedat one end-to the' frame for relative movement over said. bed, "the free end of. one .of said pivotedmembers being provided with athread'edscrewelementythe. free endofthe other beingpro- "130 vided witlr-a forked' end adapted to engage members carried by such frame and mounted therewith, thereby to draw such free ends together and to grip an article held in such mouth, and the member carrying such screw element and the frame being provided with auxiliary pressure appying devices adapted to move such free end over such bed.

6. A device of the character described comprising a frame having a top portion constituting a bed, pairs of spaced gripping members carried by such frame and mounted at opposite sides of the bed and bounding the latter to define a mouth thereon, one member of each pair of gripping members being pivotally mounted at one end to the frame for relative movement over said bed. the free end of one of said pivoted members and the frame being provided with cooperating pressure applying devices adapted to move such free end over such bed, such pressure applying devices comprising a wedge-shaped engaging portion and a pivoted lever, one being carried by the frame and the other by the gripping member.

7. A device of the character described comprising a frame having a top portion constituting a bed, pairs of spaced gripping members carried by such frame and mounted at opposite sides of the bed and bounding the latter to define a mouth thereon, one member of each pair of gripping members being pivotally mounted at one end to the frame for relative movement over said bed, the free end of one of each of said pairs of members being provided with pressure applying means, and the remaining members being provided with means for adjustably securing themselves to the bed of the frame to vary the dimensions of such mouth.

JOHN C. DE PENNING. 

